THE THREE SISTERS OF BIBLE PROPHECY( ISRAEL, JERUSALEM, JUDAH): A STUDY OF EZEKIEL 16

“It is as scathing an indictment as anything written by the prophet.”

An often ignored prophecy (Ezekiel 16:44-63) begins with as scathing an indictment as anything ever spoken through a prophet. Ezekiel specifically addresses Jerusalem: Again the word of YAHWEH came unto me, saying, “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,” (Ezekiel 16:1-2)

One curious thing within Ezekiel’s prophecy is that Jerusalem is called a “sister”. “You are your mother’s daughter who loathes her husband and her children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Your elder sister is Shomeron [Samaria]. She and her daughters dwell at your left hand [north of you--Israel]. Your younger sister is Sodom, and her daughters, who dwell at your right hand [south of you--Judah]. Yet you have not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations. But, as if that were a very little thing, you were more corrupted than they in all your ways. As I live, says Sovereign YAHWEH, Sodom your sister has not done, she, nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.” (Ezekiel 16:45-48) Who are these three sisters, Jerusalem, Samaria and Sodom? Were they really the offspring of a common mother?

To answer the questions, let’s do a word study on “sister.” This word is translated from “achot” (H269). This Hebrew word is related to “ach” (H251) which means “brother”. In Scripture, these words can also refer to blood relatives, or kinsmen. For example:

1. Abraham’s nephew, Lot is called a “brother (ach)” i.e. his kinsman. “When Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them to Dan. He divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them to Hovah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. He brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.” (Genesis 14:14-16)

2. The saying “we are brethren” means kinsmen. Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen for we are brethren.” (Genesis 13:8)

3. Moses’ “brethren” are Hebrews. “It came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren, and looked on their burdens. He spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren.” (Exodus 2:11) “Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said to him, ‘Let me go, I pray you, and return to my brethren, who are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive.’ Jethro said to Moses, ‘Go in peace’.” (Exodus 4:18)

4. The Israelites are “our brethren” and basic to this word is the concept that the tribes and nation are descended from a common father. Often, the word “ach” is used of the people of the land or fellow countrymen. The people contended with Moses exclaiming, “Would Elohim that we had died when our brethren died before YAHWEH!” (Numbers 20:3)

5. Israelites are indeed permitted to accept interest from a “nokri”, but they are forbidden to demand interest from an “ach”, an ethnic relative. “To a stranger you may lend upon usury. But to your brother you shall not lend upon usury so that YAHWEH your Elohim may bless you in all that you set your hand to in the land where you go to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 23:20)

6. In Hebrew language, there is a distinction between “ach” (a brother), “ger” (a sojourner), “rea” (a friend), and “yodhea” (an acquaintance). “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is of your brethren, or of your strangers who are in your land within your gates.” (Deuteronomy 24:14)

7. According to Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (vol. 1, p.188, 190), “The root ‘ach’ is a common Semitic root; it signifies first of all a person’s own blood brother, but it also has the broader meaning of kinsman …”

Therefore, we can conclude that the three sisters are indeed ethnically-associated peopleand thus Israelite relatives. So, who are these three related Israelite “sisters” that Ezekiel prophesied about? Let’s consider each one of them individually.

Who is the Samaria of Ezekiel’s prophecy? The Northern Kingdom of Israel/ The Lost Tribes/ Daughter Of Jerusalem

Samaria was the capital city of the ten-tribe northern House of Israel. In Ezekiel’s prophecy, cities can refer to the entire nation that they govern. So, Ezekiel refers to the nation of ten-tribe Ephraim-Israel metaphorically as “Shomeron,” a Hebrew name for “Samaria.”

Why is Samaria called the “elder sister” (16:46) when it was built last? Omri built Samaria (in 876 BC). “He bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.” (1 Kings 16:24)

David conquered Jerusalem well over a century earlier (in 999 BC) and Sodom was founded over a millennium before either Samaria or Jerusalem (about 2000 BC). Obviously Ezekiel is not using the word “elder” in a chronological sense. Unfortunately, some popular commentaries give different and often conflicting reasons for Ezekiel’s use of the term, elder.

However, the birthright belonged to the Northern Kingdom of Israel! One explanation that commentators seem to avoid is in Scripture. “Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s.” (1 Chronicles 5:1-2)

The eldest child typically inherits the birthright. Although Joseph was not the eldest of Jacob’s sons, he was the eldest son of Jacob’s favored wife, Rachel, and so became a birthright holder. He in turn passed the birthright on to his son Ephraim (Gen. 48), who was the leading and ruling tribe in the House of Israel, whose capital was at Samaria. Theologians often seem to ignore the birthright and its ramificationsbecause it clearly did not belong to Judah, or the Jewish people. It belongs to those whom Dr. Albert Barnes called, “A Mighty People” in our world today!

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, under the entry, “Birthright” states: “As firstborn he inherited a double portion of the paternal estate… Discoveries at Mari, Nuzi, and Alalakh, however, show the father could disregard the law of primogeniture and divert the birthright to a younger son, as in the case of Reuben (Genesis 48:22; 49:3f.), of Shimri (1 Chronicles 26:10), and of Joseph’s children as they were blessed by Jacob (Genesis 48:13-20).” Some scholars believe the Birthright holder had a double portion only of property that could be divided. With lands that were kept together, the elder may have received them all.

Who is the Jerusalem of Ezekiel’s prophecy? The Bride Of Christ

Yah clearly told Ezekiel to address his prophecy to Jerusalem (16:1). But why was Jerusalem a separate sister from Israel and Judah? Was not the city also a part of Judah? Why did Ezekiel make Jerusalem a separate prophetic object?

A leading 20thcentury mid-east scholar, William F. Albright, wrote “Jerusalem was quite outside of the Israelite tribal system; it vowed allegiance only to the king, and it became peopled largely by his personal retainers, who had abandoned their original allegiances and were legally ‘slaves of the king’, a term used regularly by the Israelites and their neighbors in the sense of ‘royal officials’. This act of David was sheer political genius.” (The Biblical Period from Abraham To Ezra, p.50)

So, Jerusalem’s officials answered to no one except David and Solomon themselves, which brought serious consequences. Jerusalem was a tremendous drain on the twelve tribes and helped lead to the breakup of the nation. According to Albright, “[David's] new prefects, whose names are listed in I Kings 4, seem to have been officials from the royal entourage … A principle duty of these prefects was to furnish provisions for the royal court, each for a month. If the daily amount recorded in I Kings 5:2ff is correct … this was a very heavy drain on a population which probably averaged less than 100,000 for each [tribal] prefecture … Small wonder that Israel rebelled after Solomon’s death!” (ibid. p.56)

So, Jerusalem was a political state separate from her sisters of Judah and Ephraim, but… why was Jerusalem worse (“more corrupted”) than her sisters? (Ezekiel 16:47) Why was Sovereign YAHWEH furious with the people of Jerusalem? (Ezekiel 16:42)

Haydock’s Commentary explains, “This is the most terrible effect of God’s wrath, when the sinner is left to himself.”So here is a prophecy specifically against Jerusalem that is turned into a non-descript gospel plea to the sinner!

Samaria (the House of Israel) was divorced for their sins (Hosea 2:2), yet Ezekiel proclaimed that Samaria “has not committed half the sins of Jerusalem.” (16:51) Punished with destruction from Elohim, Jerusalem was never to be restored to its previous Divine favor and use, as vividly described in the Broken Bottle Prophecy (Jeremiah 19). Although Jerusalem was physically rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity, Yah’s presence was not there, having left the city (Ezekiel 11:23). The prophetic New Jerusalem (Revelation 21) also called the desolate, barren woman in scriptures, which exists now in a spiritual form in the remnant body of His people (Luke 17:21; Hebrews 12:22-24), supersedes the physical old city. New Jerusalem’s glorious physical presence will shine forth at Messiah’s return and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. (Revelation 20 – 22)

Who is the Sodom of Ezekiel’s prophecy? The Kingdom Of Judah/ Daughter Of Jerusalem

“Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. They were haughty and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away as I saw good.” (Ezekiel 16:49-52) 

Albert Barnes refers to these verses as, “A denunciation of hopeless ruin. When Sodom shall be rebuilt and shall flourish, when Samaria shall be again a mighty people, then, but not until then, shall Jerusalem be restored.” Professor Barnes, in “Notes to the Scriptures,” wrote this prior to the establishment of a Jewish Israeli state (in 1948). If he is correct that Jerusalem was restored according to prophecy, then two things had to happen first. The ten tribes of the House of Israel, called by the name of their capital city, Samaria, must be a mighty people today! And, Sodom must also have been restored, rebuilt and flourishing. Who are these people in our modern world?

Sodom’s inhabitants were indeed wicked: “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before YAHWEH exceedingly.” (Genesis 13:13) However, historic Sodom was not known for the Ezekiel 16:48 list of sins, but Judah was. Conversely, Judah was not known for the sin of sodomy, but Sodom was! These points illustrate that in Ezekiel’s prophecy the term “Sodom” was in fact both a symbolic emblem for sin and a label for sinful Judah. Daniel I. Block agrees, saying that ancient Sodom was associated with “homosexual gang rape,” which is not in Judah’s list of crimes.
In Ezekiel’s prophecy, his “Sodom” was exiled rather than destroyed: “They were haughty and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away.” (Ezekiel 16:50). In contrast, according to Scripture ancient historic Sodom was destroyed, not exiled! (Genesis 18:20-32)

Sodom and Samaria did not even live at the same time. They were in existence a millennium apart. So they were not co-existing “sisters”.Sodom and Samaria were also of different ethnic origins and therefore again could not be called “sisters.” The ancient city of Sodom was peopled by Canaanites, who were Hamitic, not Semitic, according to the register of nations. (Genesis 10:15-20)

In Ezekiel’s prophecy, Sodom had outlying villages, or colonies, called “daughters”. Could this represent trading colonies established by Judah during the time of Solomon? (1 Kings 9:26-28) Yet it is doubtful that the small town of Sodom, destroyed a millennium earlier, and referred to by Daniel I. Block as “a third-rate city-state at best” (p.507, n256), had any such daughter colonies.

 Ezekiel prophesied of the restoration of the two sisters, Samaria (House of Israel) and House of Judah. (Ezekiel 16:53) Block explains that the Hebrew phrase “shub shebut,” means “a model of restoration according to which Yahweh reverses his judgment and restores a condition of well-being…” (Ezekiel, p.513) The same wording describes the lands, family and livestock of righteous Job being restored. (Job 42:10) Yet why would wicked Sodom be restored? According to Scripture, Yah destroyed four cities of the plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim). (Deuteronomy 29:23) Yet of these four why is only Sodom promised restoration? That would be unlikely.

A Bronze Age Ghost Town rebuilt?

Let’s examine Scripture about this restoration of Sodom. “When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then I will bring again the captivity of your captives in the midst of them that you may bear your own shame and may be confounded in all that you have done, in that you are a comfort to them. When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.” (Ezekiel 16:53-55) An alternate translation of Ezekiel 16:53 says that Yah will “restore… the fortunes of Sodom and… Samaria.” (Another alternate translation has “shall return to their former estate.”)

Commentators just cannot understand what Ezekiel is talking about! For example, Dr. Walter Zimmerli writes, “This is still more surprising … For this reason there is a real question as to whether this section (vv. 53-58) is secondary.” (p.85, Ezekiel: A Commentary) When Biblical scholars do not understand a prophecy, they want to throw it out!

Most Biblical commentaries believe that the Sodom of the prophecy is the old literal city rather than a euphemism for Judah. Yet why would a treatise on the sins of Yah’s people entirely disregard the House of Judah? Why should only the ten tribes and the city of Jerusalem be mentioned as sinners among Yah’s people?

We previously read Ezekiel 15:50, “I took them away as thou hast seen” (Douay-Rheims); or, alternatively translated as, “I did away with them as you have seen.” (NIV) This phrase “as you have seen” may refer to the Assyrian conquest of all of the land of Judah except Jerusalem in 701 BC, rather than the previous destruction of Sodom over a millennium before.

The answer to the mysterious identity of Sodom is found in the Prophet Isaiah. He denounced Judah’s princes as rulers of Sodom. “The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except YAHWEH of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of YAHWEH, you rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our Elohim, you people of Gomorrah [both city-names applied to Judah]. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says YAHWEH. I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.” (Isaiah 1:8-11)

It is also interesting to notice Ezekiel 16:61, “Take your sisters …and give them to you as daughters.” Samaria and Judah were indeed subordinate “sisters” to Jerusalem, but ancient Sodom was gone a millennium before the Israelites conquered Jerusalem!

Three Divisions

The Three Sisters therefore designate the three political sections of the Hebrew people, all kinsfolk. Yet there is still another plausible reason why Ezekiel’s prophecy broke down the Hebrew nation into three parts! An exilic parallel also existed for Ephraim, Judah and Jerusalem(the bride of Christ):

1. The House of Israel was conquered and exiled over a period of a dozen years (from 732 – 720 BC) by the Assyrian kings Tiglath-pileser III (Tukultī-apil-Ešarra, “my trust is in the son of Esharra”), Shalmaneser V (Šulmanu-ašarid, “the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent”), and Sargon II (Sarru-ukin, “he [= the god] made firm the king”) (2 Kings 15:29; 17:6)

2. The House of Judah (except for Jerusalem) was conquered (in 701 BC) and exiled by Assyrian king Sennacherib (Sin-ahhe-eriba, 705 – 681 BC). Label this the “Unknown Exile” because it is widely ignored by numerous Bible commentaries that imply that all of Judah went into the Babylonian exile. This is incorrect. The Assyrians, in fact, exiled most of Judah (46 fenced cities). (2 Kings 18:13)

3. The city of Jerusalem was conquered and deported by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in a series of exiles between 605 and 582 B.C. (2 Kings 25)

If any of these three political divisions of Israel had repented and turned back to the Elohim of Israel, they could have avoided conquest and exile. That did not happen, however, and Ezekiel prophetically characterizes and castigates all three for their sins. Only one of nearly three dozen standard Bible commentaries I consulted correctly understood who the three figurative sisters represented.

New Jerusalem and New Covenant

For thus declares Sovereign YAHWEH, “I will even deal with you as you have done, who has despised the oath in breaking the covenant [the Mosaic or Old Covenant]. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish unto you an everlasting covenant [the New Covenant]. Then you shall remember your ways and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder and your younger [This is the reunion of Judah and Ephraim, who reunite through faith in the Messiah, Yeshua, under the New Covenant]. I will give them to you for daughters [the daughter is not the old mother, and the daughter of Jerusalem is New Jerusalem, not the old city], but not by your covenant [Not by the Old Covenant but by the New Covenant]. I will establish my covenant with you. You shall know that I am YAHWEH that you may remember, and be ashamed, and never open your mouth any more because of your shame, when I pardon you for all that you have done,” declares Sovereign YAHWEH. [When are sins pardoned or forgiven? When an individual believes on Yeshua] (Ezekiel 16:59-63)

The prophecy (Ezekiel 37:15-28) of the Joining of the Two Sticks (Ephraim and Judah) states that three things will take place when the two Houses are rejoined. They would: (1) have one king (v.22) David’s greater Son the Messiah (v.24), who would be their one shepherd; (2) keep the Torah and sin no more (v.24, which appears to be Millennial); and (3) live in the land, the re-establishment of the nation in Palestine (v.25). This could not have occurred before 1948, since it says that they would live there forever. (Although the meaning is not completely clear, this passage could actually have a Millennial fulfillment, not 1948, since it says that the Davidic Messiah would be with them forever). For these reasons, according to Ezekiel’s prophecy the two Houses of Israel (Ephraim and Judah) cannot have been rejoined into one as yet. Ezekiel’s theme, therefore, is that the reunion of Israel’s two houses is a harbinger of the Messiah’s return.

Dr. S. Fisch’s commentary in “Ezekiel” says concerning Jerusalem, “[The fire of Divine punishment was seen already] in the destruction of the Northern Kingdom and the Judean captivity in 597 B.C.E. What remains, Jerusalem, is like the singed wood from which nothing can be made… When a whole branch is valueless, how can a fragment of it be of use! So, if the whole nation… failed in its purpose, what hope is there of the remnant in Jerusalem?” (p.82 on Ezek. 16:4-5)

It is not generally recognized that the Old Jerusalem failed in its mission and purpose and has been superseded by New Jerusalem under the New Covenant. This theme is evident in the New Testament: “But you are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living Elohim, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven, and to Elohim the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Yeshua the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)

The New Covenant was also proclaimed (Jeremiah 31:31-34) to include Yah’s two houses of Israel and Judah who reunite by faith in the Messiah Yeshua. (cf. Hebrews 8:8-11)

Few realize that the prophecy in Ezekiel 43:20 which foretold the New Covenant also speaks of making a blood atonement, using the Hebrew word, Kipper, meaning to purge or purify. It is related to another important Hebrew word, Kapporeth, the “Mercy Seat” or covering. This concept concerns Yeshua, for “He is the propitiation for our sins…” (1 John 2:2) A propitiation is a covering. The Complete Jewish Bible translation says, “Also, he is the kapparah for our sins…”

Importance of learning from the past

In addition to knowing Yeshua, one commentator observes, “Ezekiel attributes Jerusalem’s abominable behavior (vv. 15-34) to her failure to acknowledge her past: ‘you have not remembered.’ (16:43; 36:26)” My prayer is that we all may benefit from a knowledge of Israel’s past mistakes and not repeat them as a people

 SOURCE: messianics.us